Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 10:08 am Post subject: Layups are key
Last night while watching the game it occurred to me that the ball was bouncing unusually long on rebounds. Then I remembered that about 8-9 years ago an ex Utah player (forgot his name, might have been Scott Padgett) who was playing in NJ stated that they would put a lot of air in the ball so that Utah would get an advantage.
Now how would Utah gain an advantage from such a little thing? Well, their offense is predicated on getting layups in the half court. So it is more likely that the other team takes more jumpshots (especially with the refs allowing them to grab, hold, and push on defense). It decreases the amount of friendly bounces the ball gets on jumpshots. Therefore as soon as any part of the ball hits the rim it bounces off. This works into another advantage they get in that the long bounces lead to long rebounds for them because they are one of the best fastbreaking teams. Also long rebounds somewhat minimize our height advantage.
The NBA has a rule about how much air should be pumped into those balls, but I feel like the refs can't tell the difference when the difference is a couple of ounces.
Another thing that frustrates me is that the refs are biased in Utah. When other fans say this, the Jazz fans reply by saying that the ft amounts are somewhat even and that the Jazz are one of the most foul prone teams in the league. This is true about yesterday as well where the Jazz took 28 ft's and the Lakers took 26 fts. However, what they fail to realize is that it's not the fouls that the refs call that is the problem, but the lack of fouls called. The Jazz are allowed to grab, hold, and push (leading to those rebounds by Boozer) without getting called for it at home, which lead to more jumpshots by the other team. This ultimately leads to the 10 fewer points allowed at home than on the road. Thus, this somewhat explains the discrepancy between the the Jazz's home and road record.
Therefore, the Lakers have to be strong willed and try to get the ball inside as often as possible so that it will limit the Jazz's fastbreak and early offense opportunities. If they can do this, they will win.
I agree. I don't think we go in the paint enough especially when the other team is in foul trouble. There others wise gonna contest everything or just let you get the easy bucket. Another thing why do Bynum and Odom every time they get a rebound under the basket the bounce the ball one more time. Like that's just a steal waiting to happen why don't they just jump back up and slam it in. _________________
"If you're absent during my struggle, don't expect to be present during my success"
Guys, an ex-Jazz player said this, not me. If you watch the game from last night you'll see how long the ball is bouncing of those rims. Also, the players inspect the balls, thats correct. However, the difference is so small that they wouldn't be able to notice it. I'm usually not one to put the blame on the ball or refs, but the disparity in reffing and shooting percentages is quite obvious.
Guys, an ex-Jazz player said this, not me. If you watch the game from last night you'll see how long the ball is bouncing of those rims. Also, the players inspect the balls, thats correct. However, the difference is so small that they wouldn't be able to notice it. I'm usually not one to put the blame on the ball or refs, but the disparity in reffing and shooting percentages is quite obvious.
Considering they only shot 2 more FTs than we did, I'm not sure it's as obvious as you think.
Williams was allowed to take an uncontested 8 footer with Fisher in front of him. I said it at the time, why in the hell wasn't Kobe on Williams? Let one of the other guys beat you, but not Williams.
2nd point, not much you can do with 2 seconds on the clock. Kobe takes and makes those shots, didn't drop last night.
While D Will did get around Fish, I don't exactly considerthis an uncontested wide open shot. LO managed to get a hand up and it was a tough fadeaway jumper that happened to go in.
The game was lost long before that with 10 missed free throws (6 by Pau), 36% shooting, 15 less rebounds, only 7 minutes of Drew and yet another blown lead. _________________ Rest In Paradise Kobe & GiGi
it was my fault. usually when i have a good day, the Lakers follow suit and win. but yesterday, just a barrage of things were going wrong by a hair; if i fought harder i probably would have prevailed.
so i knew that it was not meant to be last night for the Lakers and that last shot by D.Will summed up my day.
my bad, i blame myself and not the refs for what happened.
I smoked from my vaporizer and fell asleep at 7pm yesterday while waiting for the game to start. Slept straight through it and everything else until 9am this morning.
I smoked from my vaporizer and fell asleep at 7pm yesterday while waiting for the game to start. Slept straight through it and everything else until 9am this morning.
It's actually my fault. I forgot to wear my KB8 jersey that I vowed to wear during every Laker game during the title run. I wore them for Games 1 and 2 and the Lakers won. I forgot for Game 3 and we lost.
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